Running updates on a Self Managed VPS

Updating a cPanel server

Updating a cPanel server is fairly easy, because cPanel/WHM has simple server update and management tools built-in. You can run updates by using the following tools in WHM:

• WHM > Software > System Update
• WHM > Software > Update Server Software

Warning: The System Update tool allows you to optional update the server’s kernel if there is a new version available. This kind of update will require the server to be rebooted to apply. Although it is unlikely, sometimes a new kernel version can cause significant issues, in some cases not allowing the server to boot. Please be cautious when completing these kinds of updates.

To streamline this process, you can upgrade to CloudLinux and install KernelCare to update the kernel without rebooting.

Completing updates via the command line (non cPanel server)

The process for completing server software updates via the command line can be different, depending on the operating system you have installed. This is because different Linux distributions use different package managers.

Redhat and CentOS

Redhat, CentOS, and other Redhat based Linux distributions use the yum package manager, and some of newer version of these operating systems use a package manager called dnf. Meaning that you can use the following basic commands to complete software updates:

Redhat 7 and CentOS 7

yum update

Redhat 8 and CentOS 8

dnf update

Debian and Ubuntu

Debian and Ubuntu use the apt (aptitude) package manager. You can use the following commands to complete updates:

Update the local package index:

sudo apt update

Update any software on your server to the latest version (you must apt update first):

sudo apt upgrade